
Eight years after its initial attempt to go public, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to reapply for an initial public offering (IPO). The NSE board has approved a new application to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a no-objection certificate (NoC), as announced during its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, SEBI informed the Delhi High Court that it had not yet received a request from NSE for a fresh NoC regarding its IPO, in response to a petition filed by People Activism Forum urging NSE's listing. Prior to SEBI's response, NSE CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan had declined to comment on the IPO plans during a post-earnings call.
The NSE first sought SEBI's approval for the IPO in 2016, but the offer document was returned in 2019 due to an ongoing investigation into the co-location scam and a reduction in the offer size by over 50%. Since then, NSE has submitted at least three applications for SEBI's NoC to file the draft IPO prospectus, the latest being in June 2022, according to court documents.
SEBI had advised NSE to address issues related to technology, governance, surveillance, and other regulatory responsibilities before reconsidering the IPO request.
In recent months, trading volumes of NSE shares in the unlisted market have surged, with some foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) potentially selling their holdings due to the prolonged IPO delay and concerns over stricter derivatives trading norms. NSE, one of the most actively traded unlisted stocks in India, reached a market capitalization of ₹3.2 lakh crore in July, making it the sixth-largest exchange globally and the largest in Asia.